Regime’s Airstrikes Killed More than 50 Civilians in Kafrbatna and Douma

As the world witnesses many rapid regional and international developments, the Syrian Regime finds the opportunity to commit and perpetrate more crimes. The Syrian regime once again disregarded all the international charters and relevant agreements on protecting civilians during international conflicts. On Sunday 3 August, 2014, the Syrian regime perpetrated two massacres in Damascus suburbs using barrel bombs to continue its long string of airstrikes assaults against the armless civilians of Syria. This statement documents and condemns two massacres committed in the cities of Douma and Kafrbatna in Eastern Ghouta region, Damascus suburbs, Syria.

The Syrian regime perpetrated two consecutive massacres in Eastern Ghouta, which is still suffering from the aftermath of the chemical attack that took place on August 21, 2013. The Syrian regime warplanes dropped more than 2,000 Tons of explosive materials on Kafrbatna on August 3rd, 2014 which resulted in an atrocious crime against civilians, especially children and women.

Moreover, at about 3:00 PM on Sunday 3 August, 2014, the Syrian regime warplanes shelled a crowded public market in Kafrbatna; the attack resulted in 27 victims including three children and two women. In addition DCHRS documented more than 80 wounded, most of whom were children with critical conditions. DCHRS would like to indicate that all the victims who were killed in Kafrbatna market massacre were civilians. Furthermore, the targeted area had a civil nature “an open public market”.

Two hours after Kafrbatna massacre, the Syrian regime airplanes targeted “Al-Qouatli Street” in Douma – Damascus suburb with another airstrike. This street is one of the classiest streets in Douma and it houses thousands of Syrian residents and Internally Displaced People.

The shelling resulted in another massacre where 16 civilians were killed in addition to many unidentified dead victims. Also many were wounded most of them were children and women.

As a part the regime’s “deliberate” targeting policy, another airstrike hit the same location again as soon as people gathered to rescue and watch. Furthermore, the second strike targeted gathered civilians, medics, and the Syrian Red Cross medics, who rushed to rescue the wounded. The second strike killed 10 victims more to raise the number of causalities to 26 in total documented victims. Those victims included three medics, three children, and two women. Eyewitnesses noted that “this high number of victims was because the Syrian regime targeted the area with a second airstrike while medics and people were attempting to help and rescue the victims of the first airstrike.”

DCHRS documented with the end of Sunday 26 civilian victims in Douma in addition to two rebels who died during clashes after the massacre:

The following are the two rebels who were killed due to clashes after the massacre.
1- Belal As-Smadi, from Damascus suburb – Douma, killed during clashes with the Syrian regime army.http://youtu.be/_xM0IC1Ft4w
2- Alaa An-Na’al, from Damascus suburb – Douma, killed during clashes with the Syrian regime army.

A doctor from Douma stated that all the victims and wounded were taken Douma hospitals and medical points in addition to the rest of Eastern Ghouta hospital where 70 cases who were injured by fragment have been documented, 22 wounded who need surgeries; most of which involve amputation in addition to four critical brain injuries.

The international silence has given the Syrian regime the green light to continue the horrific massacres using various kinds of deadly weapons against the armless people. Tens and hundreds of victims are falling every day in Syria on the hands of the Syrian regime.

Furthermore, more and more barrel bombs are falling on the heads of civilians across Syria not to mention mortar shells, rocket launchers and other kinds of weapons. The Syrian regime is terrorizing the people of Syria and destroying what is left of Syria’s infrastructure while disregarding the international and UN Resolutions and conventions on protecting the civilians during armed conflicts.

DCHRS noted that the Syrian regime is adopting a new shelling policy by targeting civil areas intentionally and deliberately rather than shelling indiscriminately. Targeting civilian areas in armed conflicts is a violation that the regime is consistent in perpetrating while granting impunity. The massacres in Douma and Kafrbatna can be considered an example of the direct targeted strikes.

We, as a Human Rights NGO, condemn this blatant and explicit violation of the relevant international laws and covenants. These continuous attacks on civil and areas by the Syrian regime are serious desecrations of the International Humanitarian Law. The International Community should address these violations and improve its “responsibility to protect” policy.

Furthermore not only the commander and chief of this ruthless operation Bashar al-Assad should be accountable, also anyone who was part of the crime or participated in committing such violations.

DCHRS urges the United Nations and the Security Council to press on the Syrian regime in order to stop targeting civilians. The UN Security Council in addition to the international community should take immediate actions to protect the civilians in Syria from the deadly airstrikes that are targeting them on a daily bases.

DCHRS is an independent, non-governmental organization, established in 2005, located in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Its mission is to foster a spirit of support and respect for the values and standards of human rights in Syria. As such, DCHRS recognizes and adheres to all pertinent international human rights agreements and declarations issued by the UN.

DCHRS is a member of the following international networks:

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN)

NGO Coalition for the international Criminal Court

International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP)

International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC)

DCHRS worked on a variety of documentation projects. Such projects included daily casualty reports, massacre reports, and other human rights violations reports. Also DCHRS has been working on advocacy and lobbying in different human rights institutions in order to educate and acknowledge about the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria.. After the launch of the Syrian revolution, the center increased its activities through working, communicating, and coordinating with many members and activists. Thus the center began documenting daily violations committed by the Syrian regime forces that can be classified as crimes against humanities and war crimes. Such violations included: extrajudicial killings, massacres, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, rape, torture in prisons. DCHRS opened local offices in Syria in order to document, collect, and observe human rights violations on the ground. DCHRS submitted those reports to many international and regional human rights organizations and communicated with the Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on Syria.